luzhanqi

Prepare your army!

In this Chinese game, two opponents will lead armies to try and capture each other's flag. The armies are made of troops of 9 different orders plus bombs and mines, and may seek refuge in camps, becoming invulnerable, or even use railroads to move swiftly across the board. Pieces are kept hidden from the opponent, so that memory and deduction become essencial to a winning strategy.

A very fun game for 2-3 players, with an approximate duration of 20 minutes.

History

Luzhanqi, which can be translated as
"Land Battle Chess", is a Chinese game of
unclear origins. Although it has been
related that Chinese children have been
playing it for about a century, there is not
much literature on its history.

It is believed to be related to the game
Doushouqi, also known as "The Jungle
Game", and that it is ultimately descended
from the Indian Chaturanga.

Among the most traditional aspects of
Luzhanqi we find the barriers in the middle
of the board (which are usually 'rivers', but
in this game are called 'mountains') and
the hierarchy of the pieces, which results
in some pieces not being able to capture
others.

On the other hand, Luzhanqi includes, a modern
military hierarchy, the use of bombs,
land mines and railroads. These
elements (along with the absence of
newer military resources, such as tanks
and airplanes) indicate the game has
attained its present form somewhere in
the late 19th century or in the beginning
of the 20th.

Although the game is scarcely known in
the West, a few very similar comercial
games have been available in the
American and European markets for many
decades.

Please note that traditional Luzhanqi's
pieces only show military ranks (written in
idiograms). To illustrate it with animals has
been an aesthetical decision by Oca. We
did so for two reason: to make the game
more appealing to children and to
emphasize the close relation this game
has to Doushouqi, the Jungle Game.